The Ocean Pines Yacht Club is pictured on a crowded night.
File photo

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Improvements and new partnerships are coming to the Ocean Pines food and beverage service, including a party boat experience from the community’s Yacht Club to Seacrets in Ocean City.

Since this spring, restaurant group Touch of Italy (TOI) has been the operator of the Ocean Pines Association’s food and beverage services. TOI and OPA signed a five-year contract in January for TOI to oversee the Ocean Pines Yacht Club, the Ocean Pines Beach Club in Ocean City, and the Clubhouse Bar and Grille. The arrangement was inked upon the expiration of previous vendor Matt Ortt Companies’ agreement with the homeowners’ association.

Now, with a few months under their belt, TOI is enhancing OPA’s food and beverage experience.

One such development is the new partnership between the Ocean Pines Yacht Club and Seacrets Coastal Cruises. This party boat ride will now offer a journey through the bay between the OPA establishment and the iconic Ocean City bar and restaurant.

The boat has a restroom onboard and is stocked with a full tiki bar for guests to enjoy during the 35-minute voyage. A round-trip experience is offered, and, according to a press release issued by OPA, private charters for groups of 35 to 45 passengers are available.

TOI founder Bob Ciprietti said that the Yacht Club’s newest experience kicked off last weekend. The boozy Seacrets cruise will be offered through Labor Day and then will hit the ground running early next summer. For adults, the round-trip ticket price is $24.95. For children, who are also welcome for those visitors looking for a more family-friendly journey, tickets are $14.95.

“In my opinion, it’s an inexpensive Uber on the water,” Ciprietti said.

The TOI founder noted that the new service will offer Ocean Pines residents a fresh and fun way to experience two sought-after Eastern Shore locations.

“I think [the cruise] gives another overall part of the experience that if you come to the Yacht Club and you want to go over to Seacrets and have some great food and some great drinks and entertainment, and you want that vibe, you can hop over, and then you can come back,” he said. “And if you’re at Seacrets, you can do the same thing. You can hop over to Ocean Pines and come back. It’s a win-win for everybody, and we look forward to its success.”

Ciprietti added that he recently took a Seacrets cruise himself, and maintained that the experience will only be advantageous for the community and its residents.

“I just took this Seacrets cruise this past week, and it was great,” he said. “I saw parts of Ocean City I have never seen before. I think it’s going to be awesome.”

In addition to the new water adventure, TOI is looking to enhance its on-site experience at the Yacht Club. Ciprietti said that throughout the summer, his team has taken feedback from Ocean Piners on the establishment’s service and menu, and the restaurant group intends to make some adjustments leading into the fall and winter.

The food has been an ongoing point of discussion among community members, Ciprietti said, and the Yacht Club is now on its fourth iteration of the menu since TOI took over earlier this year.

“We were constantly getting feedback,” said the Touch of Italy founder. “‘Hey, we like this, hey, we don’t like that.’ The biggest one was, ‘We don’t want you to do Italian.’ And then three weeks later, ‘where’s all the Italian?’”

As such, a few Italian dishes have been added, including the restaurant’s beloved chicken parm, which Ciprietti said has been well-received.

TOI is also preparing to introduce new events and specials this fall. According to Ciprietti, during the offseason, the Yacht Club plans to reinvent its trivia night, host wine and bourbon dinners, and offer cooking classes.

Notably, Ciprietti added to enhance the facility, Ocean Pines has agreed to build an outdoor kitchen at the Yacht Club. The addition will aid in the establishment’s staff’s ability to provide quality and speedy service. While the new kitchen will not be as big as the one indoors, it will be fully functional.

“There are some Saturdays that there are 2,000 people that we serve, and the kitchen struggled a little bit because that’s a lot of people at one time, and we’re only human,” Ciprietti said. “This will give us some diversity in the menu and also speed up the food experience for when you’re at the pool or tiki bar and you want something easy and quick. We’re looking forward to that.”

The outdoor kitchen is expected to be finished in the spring of next year.

Ciprietti said that TOI’s first summer season overseeing OPA’s food and beverage operations has been successful.

“For us, it’s a great summer,” he said. “It’s our maiden voyage. The people in Ocean Pines have been warm and receptive to us.”